The following is an excerpt from Chapter 1 of my book,
"Apikorsus!"
There's
a story that often gets repeated when the subject of apikorsus comes up. It usually goes something like this:
An apikores moved to town, and the rabbi visited to welcome
him. They talked for a while, and the rabbi asked if the newcomer would come
with him to mincha.
"Thank
you for the invitation," the apikores
said, "But I'm an atheist."
"Really!"
The rabbi said. "I've never met an atheist before. I'd love to get your
perspective on the daf I'm
learning."
"You
don't understand." The apikores
said. "I'm an atheist. I don't learn gemara."
"I
see." The rabbi said. "But I assume you've learned through mishnayos. I'm in the middle of…"
The
apikores shook his head.
"No?"
The rabbi said. "Well, you must have a good understanding of Tanach, the foundation of Judaism, with
the meforshim. After all, you've
concluded that they're all wrong! Perhaps we could discuss this week's parsha."
The apikores shook his head again.
"Rabbi, I'm an atheist. I don't do any of that religious stuff."
"How
could you have rejected Judaism?" The rabbi asked. "To reject
Judaism, you first have to be a scholar. You haven't studied anything. You're
not an atheist, you're an ignoramus."
The
story is told to make the point that one must be thoroughly acquainted with
Judaism before he is qualified to reject it. The apikores in the story is not qualified to reject Judaism. Instead,
he's just a fool, talking about things he knows nothing about.
Some
people expand on the theme, like one rebbe
who told his class, "Ask the apikores.
Did you ever read Aristotle? Plato? Moreh
nevuchim? No? Then tell him you are not an atheist. You are an am haaretz (an ignoramus)."[1]
There are
several problems with the premise of the story. The first is that it often is
not true. Most people who go OTD have
spent years in yeshiva or Beis Yaakov. They have studied gemara, mishnayos, Tanach, and
more. Many have also read Aristotle, Plato, Moreh
Nevuchim, and other philosophers, and are often better versed in theology
than the average believer.
…
The third
problem is that the rabbi doesn't hold himself to the same standard he requires
of the apikores. …
The story can
be told equally well the other way around:
There was a frumme yid who moved to a college town.
Word of his presence spread, and the dean of the college was intrigued. He
arranged a meeting with the newcomer.
"I've
never met a true believer before." The dean said. "Is it true that
you're a maamin, that you really
believe that the Torah was written by an All-Powerful God Who created the world
and gave the Torah to the Jewish people at Sinai?
"Absolutely!"
The yid replied.
"Great!"
The dean said. "I have some questions I was hoping you could answer. How
do you account for the similarities between the Torah and Ancient Near Eastern
mythology?"
"Mythology?"
The frum man said. "That's avodah zara! I don't study that."
"I see."
The dean said, "We'll avoid that subject. How do you account for the
literary evidence that the Torah is a composite work?"
"That's kefirah!" The yid answered. "Chas
v'shalom that I should ever think the Torah might have been written by
humans!"
"What
can we talk about, then?" The dean asked. "How myths develop?
Archeological evidence for the origins of the Jewish people and for the beliefs
of the early Israelites? Geological evidence for the age of the Earth?
Cosmological evidence for the age of the universe? Biological evidence of
evolution? The philosophical problems with proofs for the existence of God? The
history of the development of Judaism, and the many different forms it's taken
over the millennia? Influences on Judaism from other cultures?"
"None of
those! "The frum man answered. "Philosophy
is foolishness, and the scientists and academics are either lying, or their
findings are distorted by the mabul."
The dean
stood up. "Thank you for meeting with me, but I see we have nothing to
discuss. To really be a true believer, you have to at least be educated enough
to understand the problems with believing
in God and Orthodox Judaism. You're not a maamin, you're an ignoramus."
[1] Margolese,
F. (2005). Off the Derech. Jerusalem,
Israel: Devora Publishing Company. P. 178
